Superteams Smackdown: 1977 Yankees vs. 1986 Mets

Here is the first in a series of superteam smackdowns. We’ll pit two championship teams together, and you vote on who you think would win if these two titans matched up against each other.

The year 1977 was the birth of the Bronx Zoo Yankees. They fought each other, they fought the manager and they fought the owner. 1986 was the year everything peaked for the Mets after rebuilding from the ashes of the rock-bottom late ’70s–early ’80s. They fought the whole National League. What if these two powerhouses battled each other? Who would win? What if they just got in a boxing ring? That might be better.

The ’77 Yankees were led by the irascible Billy Martin, and went 100-62 that season. They were fourth in the AL in runs scored (831), third in home runs (184), second in average (.281) and third in ERA (3.62). Graig Nettles led the team in homers, with 37, followed by Reggie Jackson, 32, and Thurman Munson, 18. Reggie was tops in RBIs, with 110, Nettles had 107 and Munson 100. Sweet Lou Piniella batted .330, Mickey Rivers .326 (with 22 stolen bases) and Munson .308. Ron Guidry (2.82) and Ed Figueroa (3.57) both won 16 games that season, with Mike Torrez (14-12, 3.82), Don Gullett (14-4, 3.58) and Catfish Hunter (9-9, 4.71) also starting. They basically had a three-man bullpen (the rotation notched 52 complete games that year), with Sparky Lyle leading the way, going 13-5 with a 2.17 ERA and 26 saves. That was good enough for him to be the first reliever ever to win the Cy Young Award. Dick Tidrow (11-4, 3.16) and Ken Clay (2-3, 4.37) complemented Lyle by pitching the bulk of the relief innings.

But stats didn’t make this team. Fighting and hatred did. Reggie hated Billy. Billy hated George Steinbrenner. Billy hated Reggie. Thurman hated Reggie. George hated Billy. George loved Billy. George loved Reggie. George hated Reggie. Reggie loved Reggie. Reggie hated Reggie. Thurman accidentally hated Chambliss because he once mistakenly thought he was Reggie. Catfish hated Charlie Finley (just for old time’s sake). And Roy White and Willie Randolph just wanted to play baseball. They beat Kansas City in five games in the AL playoffs, and Reggie’s historic performance in the World Series led the way to defeating the Dodgers for their first championship since 1962.

Davey Johnson led the ’86 Mets to a 108-54 record as they completely dominated the National League. They ranked first in the NL in runs scored (783), first in average (.263), third in home runs (148) and first in ERA (3.11). Darryl Strawberry belted 27 homers, followed by Gary Carter, 24, and Keith Hernandez, 13. Carter led in RBIs, with 105, Strawberry was second, with 93, and Hernandez had 83. Wally Backman hit .320, Hernandez .310 and Ray Knight .298. Lenny Dykstra stole 31 bases, followed by Strawberry, with 28, and Mookie Wilson, 25. The strength of the team was the pitching staff. They had the best rotation in baseball that year, with Dwight Gooden (17-6, 2.84), Ron Darling (15-6, 2.81), Bobby Ojeda (18-5, 2.57), Sid Fernandez (16-6, 3.52) and Rick Aguilera (10-7, 3.88). The two stars of the bullpen were Roger McDowell (14-9, 3.02, 22 saves) and Jesse Orosco (8-6, 2.33, 21 saves).

Hatred was a guiding light of this team, too. Every team in the NL hated them. But they were tougher than other teams, played harder than other teams, drank more than other teams, took more drugs than other teams, hot dogged more than other teams, curtain-called more than other teams, beat other teams and beat up other teams. The rest of the NL was basically Dean Wormer at the end of Animal House, beaten and beaten down: “I hate those guys.” The Mets, of course, went on to defeat Houston and Boston in one of the greatest post-seasons ever.

The Yanks had hitting and power. The Mets had pitching and speed. They both had controversial right fielders, speedy center fielders, young ace pitchers, charismatic managers and grit and toughness. Who do you think would win? Vote now.